I use it fine on macOS, iOS, and android. Recently had trouble on firestick. I did not know they were acquired but if so, per other comments they may be “harvesting” PIA (minimal $ in, maximum $ out)
I am also seeing more sites blocking VPN connections.
If you are willing to, you can always just install the OpenVPN clients and configure it to use PIA (requires a bit of work downloading certs and stuff, but not too bad)
Optionally you could look into running OPNSense/pfsense as your router and have devices behind the VPN at all times invisibility to the system
I kind agree with the OP… However I still love PIA and what they offer, I do truly, but that doesn’t go without saying that PIA has some issues I wish they would look into…
Again, and more to issue#3 and #4, these are the kinds of things PIA needs to buckle down on and FIX!! that isn’t a user problem but a PIA server/software issue directly. Again, when connecting to OpenVPN —> REMOTE PORT #123 doesn’t connect at all. If anyone can prove me wrong I would greatly appreciate that… I still love PIA, I do truly… but Where are the Server Admin’s and why aren’t they looking into these issues?
it works on my system.
Thank you that is actually helpful. Didn’t consider layoffs as an explanation, now that I do that would make a lot of sense. Still the noticeable drop in activity (besides their blog) feels like a red flag (and one that would be so easy to avoid, right!?). Anyways, besides the many unhelpful posts, it does seem that there are some users out there who understand what I’m talking about.
As for my specific issues, I’ve definitely sent some crash logs to PIA, but it’s one of those issues that is just a minor annoyance that I didn’t wanna go through the time to do the full support ticket dance, and assumed would be fixed at some point because, well, I’ve been using PIA since roughly around 2013 and they were always consistent about squashing bugs in their youth. Sad to think that may have changed, but I think OpenVPN actually does sound like the best solution for my woes, thank you!
As for them being less active, we have been in a recession for awhile. There’s been lots of tech layoffs for the past 6-12 months, a lot of them have been “quiet” layoffs where they fire people slowly over the course of months to avoid getting bad press like “Microsoft lays off 20% work force!”. No idea if that’s the case with PIA specifically, just a potential reason.
As someone who works in tech you need to realize that tech overhired in 2020-2022. Many companies are still far larger than they were in 2019 after all these layoffs. These companies are just right-sizing the ship because they overexpanded and their stocks inflated. That doesn’t mean Android is now in maintenance mode and iOS stops getting updates.
For the record Microsoft laid off 5% of their workforce in January. It’s a tiny amount in layoffs.
How do you not get ISP Copyright Violations using Socks5? I had to go away from that like 5 years or more ago? I just use a container with a vpn built in and then add my PIA to the config for OpenVPN. Would use the faster WireGuard but it is a prebuilt NAS and running WireGuard on it seems to break every time they upgrade their OS and OpenVPN always works no issues
yes, well aware, I was more speaking as a long term customer wondering if anyone else out there is seeing how sketchy it looks. I stand by the astroturfing thing too, a lot of very blatant bot activity going on in this sub. I don’t care about the downvotes as much as I just wanna know what’s going on.
Well I guess my complaint is that it is broken, not a major unusable break, but I’ve gotten consistent crashes on mac and admittedly minor bugs on Linux. I think there’s a happy medium between over-engineering and abandonware, and one which I admired PIA for adhering to for a long time. But bug fixes/any signs of life have disappeared and it seems suspect. If it works for you, cool, good, but it makes me worried, especially because I chose PIA for privacy reasons, like many I imagine. If they’re not bothering with minor bug fixes, what’s going to happen when it needs a major fix?
They work, but what do you mean why update what isn’t broken? MacOS native silicon has been out for 2+ years now. We have a beta that’s months old and almost a year.
It’s easy to say “nothing’s broken” but in reality almost all apps have some bugs here and there. To argue there’s absolutely nothing to update is pretty ignorant in the software development world.
I haven’t needed a VPN for some time. I stopped using it about the same time that PIA was acquired. Recently I had a need for it again and when doing research it seems that PIA comes up on top in most areas, including features and privacy. My only real concern was that they were going to try and install some of their other products on my machine without my knowledge or permission. I signed up and installed their client and haven’t had that problem.
As far as I’m concerned I would recommend it to friends if they needed a VPN.
Thanks for the suggestion, Mullvad looks like what made me like PIA in the first place! Obviously noticed the quality drop since the acquisition, but didn’t realize it went that far. And hell if it ain’t damn hard to find anything objective when it comes to VPN’s,. Advertising money, astroturfing, and blatant paid reviews being thrown around like candy.
Appreciate it.
Would you recommend Mullvad for gaming? Also, any idea if it gets rid of the video throttle for cell phone carriers? PIA does for me (cricket wireless).
I suppose the big picture for me has more to do with their long term trajectory. I chose PIA for their strong stance on privacy and because they seemed very forward thinking. I became very impressed with the amount of long term support they gave to their product and what felt like a sense of continuous feedback and development. Then they were acquired.
As another commenter pointed out, their parent company is sketchier than I realized, but even without that knowledge, I’ve seen enough tech buyouts that I was skeptical at the time. But I figured I would stick around and see what happens. And yes there is still some maintenance activity going on, but I really don’t see how their current level of engagement can even be compared to what it was 2+ years ago. Activity in the last 6-12 months in particular has gone off a cliff, with no explanation provided. It gives the impression that they’ve been gutted like a corporate fish. The consensus here seems to be that nobody knows why and most don’t care as long as the app turns green. I’ve decided to move to greener pastures, however, because that answer is not what I’m looking for in a VPN.
i wouldn’t ditch PIA… they have great speeds and regardless of the small issues, they still offer a lot for the $$. PIA is still a rock solid choice. Just my 2-cents
Curious to know if you ended up ditching and if your found anything better? My subscriptions up and considering ditching for the same reason.
It’s not working like it used to for me, either. Server traffic blocks, sites that don’t work with PIA, etc. Not going to renew.
“works fine”
For you, yes. Not for me. Keep having to spell this out, I’m not asking for a VPN battle pass, I’m asking if there is any sign of life on the development side, and the answers I’m getting are “not really” and “it works for me.”
Which version of Windows are you using?
“It works on my system”
Cmon you could at least read the post. Just wanna know that I’m not throwing my money at a dead product